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Speatus Crimsonwolf
General Speatus Crimsonwolf was the founder and leader of the militant organisation known as the Warsong Blades. The Early Years Speatus was born before the Horde’s first invasion into Azeroth to the Warsong clan. Sadly, the world had changed rapidly from his days as a care free pup and Speatus was pushed into war before he had even earned his last name. He was taught the path of a warrior but was never able to outshine his brother, the mighty Krusg Crimsonblade, in battle. During his time as the legion’s underling, Speatus took the lives of many. He learned to fight and kill with no fear of his opponents and no mercy for the defeated. These would have been seen as valuable traits in orcish society had it not been under these terrible circumstances. The deeds and actions preformed by the clan would haunt Speatus for the rest of his life, but a warrior’s mind learns to suppress and so he did. Like many within the clan, he did it too well. Speatus was there when the clan ventured out of the Dark portal and fought his way deep into the foreign lands. This was also the time that the horde was planning its advance further into Human territory. The warriors of the Horde were launched by land and through the dark portal, some never to see their home world again. Speatus’s parents were not to return. As the old stories go, the horde quickly collapsed after numerous conflicts and battles. finaly they were forced to retreat back to the Dark Portal, many of the clans were weakened and forced into hiding. The Warsong was among them. Speatus spend most of the exile studying the weather patterns and listening to the calls of nature. For hours on end, he would listen to the elder’s tales of the old shamans of the past. He became obsessed with the power that these Orcs once wielded and his dangerous obsession soon became his only interest. His brother, Krusg Crimsonblade, however was a different story. From the age of seven he was defending the gates of the old Warsong camps from beasts and raiders alike. Krusg learned the ways of battle from some of the best warriors of the clan. He never shared his brother’s interest in the shamanic ways and at the age of twelve he became the youngest Orc in the camp to be given an officer’s rank within the Warsong. When the Warsong clan swore allegiance to the Frost Wolf clan, Speatus’s dreams became a reality as a Frost Wolf shaman took him under his wing. Because of his obsession with the elements, he quickly grasped the skills needed to become a shaman of his clan. His first taste of power, the raw power of the elemental spirits of flame and lightning, came during the battle of Hammerfall. Speatus, as young as he was, fought with as much vigour and ferocity as was expected from the Warsong. Unfortunately for him, the red haze of battle clouded his mind and after the Orcish victory a small band of Orcs (including the mighty Krusg Crimsonblade) continued to pursue the routing humans. The small band of Orcs followed the fleeing enemy far from the battlefield and were met by a large human reserve force. They were forced to surrender and Krusg was taken to the human prisons near a small port on the western coast. Speatus’s brother spend the next five years in captivity, being beaten, spat on and tortured. Speatus was lucky enough to escape the human counter attack and using his new found skills he managed to evade the bounty hunters that we dispatched after the now fleeing Orcs. He made it back to Hammerfall and swore bloody revenge or his own death. Later, he became convinced his brother was executed by the humans, his theory was later reinforced by the grim display of dead Orcs found in the location of their capture days later. It was on this day that the brothers earned their names: Krusg Crimsonblade – A fitting name for the young orc officer that single handedly defended a small breech in the walls with a single blunt axe. The gore and blood trapped within the broken niches of his blade would live on in his name even to the present day. This was the first of many great things the Mighty Crimsonblade would achieve. Speatus Crimsonwolf – As a tribute to his brother, Speatus took on the ‘crimson’ prefix of his brother’s name. The wolf suffix was given to him because of the traditional shaman wolf head coifs. (Please note that at this time Speatus was under the impression that his brother was dead.) Demon Blood and the Third War A few years later, Thrall is contacted by the fabled prophet, painting a grim picture of doom. The flight of the Orcs soon followed.A small human port was invaded, the plan being toobtain the fleet of ships docked there. As the small skirmish came to an end, the prisoners were set free and Speatus and Krusg were once again reunited. Krusg, however, was a changed Orc with a new found hatred. His entire life force seemed to be focused on this rage and his hate for the humans and their organisation called the Alliance. Speatus had grown in this time too, no longer was he the introverted and obsessed pup, he had become a powerful shaman and was even looked up to by many youngsters with in the Clan. Twenty years after the first invasion of Azeroth the Orcs migrated once more, but this time to the lands of Kalimdor. During their journey the inferior human ships gave way in a storm and the Orc survivors were forced to swim to the safety of a strange new land. Speatus and Krusg were lucky to end up on the coast by the great Grom Hellscream’s side. During their days of searching for survivors with what was left of Grom’s forces, Speatus and Krusg quickly earned the Chieftain’s respect as their passion for survival and work ethic shone beyond the poorly spirited Orcs. When humans were discovered on the coast of Kalimdor, Grom reacted quickly and sent his Warsong warriors on raids into their poorly defended camps. Speatus was put in charge of many such raids but was lucky enough not to be in the party that was discovered by the Warchief. Thrall was outraged by the Warsong’s rash actions and sent the Clan north to the borders of the forests of Ashenvale. Under Thrall’s orders Grom established a base camp and begin the lumber expedition into the forests. As the stories go, the Night elf sentinels lead an attack against the Orcs, but did not have a force strong enough to overcome them. They retreated back into the forests and were not seen for some time until the coming of the Nightelf Demigod Cenarious. The outer Warsong lumber camps were razed by the night elf forces and Cenarious pushed on quickly to the Warsong base camp. Grom, sensing the corrupt fountain within reach, orders is remaining Orcs to drink the felblood. Speatus, as loyal to death as ever, was one of the first to drink the blood without question. Once more the Blood haze fell upon the Orcs, and they began their bloody counter attack. Once again Speatus was thrown into a war. The only thing he knew. The story of Speatus Crimsonwolf continues as Orcish lore dictates, Speatus and Krusg took the death of Grom hard and swore to always fight against the plague of the felblood. Both brothers took an active role in the third war and ended up defending the Warsong lumber camps as officers in charge of the defence of Kargathia keep. The Rise of General Speatus Crimsonwolf Before Speatus joined the Ashen Order he was the officer set in charge over the defence of the Warsong lumber camps in Ashenvale. As a result of Warchief Thrall’s strategy to prevent an all out war with the alliance, Drakal Deathbringer (The current head of the clan due to no replacement after Grom Hellscream.) reduced the amount of forces used to guard the camps. This was an attempt to show the alliance that the Horde did not wish to be known as a threat in Kalimdor and as a result Speatus was assigned a minor officer role within Orgrimmar. Speatus had been a soldier almost since birth, he had been active in all three wars and, as one could imagine he became bored and frustrated. Within the first couple of weeks of his new role he managed to convince his brotherKrusg Cimsonblade to join the Warchief’s personal armed force, the Ashen Order. They were accepted and in time Speatus and Krusg began to see the Ashen Order guildhall as their barracks, but never as their home. Things soon changed when an unfortunate Silverwing ambush caught the legendry Grugg Blackworg by surprise and left him near crippled, unable to perform his duties and his role as a senior officer of the clan became vacant. Using the influence of his brother’s name within the clan, an old ‘acquaintance’ who had become a popular name in the Ogrimmar underground crime world (Cato Swordsong) and the official friends he had made during his time in Orgrimmar, Speatus was able to take the position and was even able to fund a small force of warriors as his personal guard. This force would soon become known as the fighting elite of the clan. The Warsong Blades. Speatus was assigned duties in Mag’har and was in inspired by the presence of Garrosh Hellscream in Nagrand. He made it his personal goal to make sure that one day the Warsong clan was once again headed by a Hellscream. He began to build a strong relationship with Garrosh, telling him stories of the days he use to fight at the side of his father Grom. Pledging himself to Garrosh’s cause, Speatus was made General of the Warsong Blades and the order was soon drafted to be the personal force of Garrosh Hellscream. With this influence behind him Speatus became confident and claimed back his former headquarters in Kargathia Keep in Ashenvale. :The air was thick with the smell of freshly cut wood and sawdust. The Warsong Peons and watchmen alike had stopped their work just to watch, just to see them as they marched down the road to Kargathia Keep. The Blademasters , they were called, the elite of the elite. Few Orcs have been considered for such a rank in their life time, fewer still have actually accomplished it, they were the bodyguards of the General himself. Their armour glinted as the sun filtered down from the forest canopy, they marched over the bridge in two straight lines, resting their mighty weapons upon their shoulders. As they entered the camps the General could be seen leading their stride, he wore no armour but the wolf skins over his head and down his back, he carried the great ceremonial axe that Warsong officers were so famed for. A foul expression on his face as he stared into the working ranks. The Blood Elf tents, the badly maintained wagons bound for Orgrimmar and the ‘refreshment’ tables put out for thirsty peons with all sorts of delicious treats. He was clearly not impressed. The grunts did not have to clear him a path as the workers parted on their own accord fear and respect fuelling them. Cato and Overseer Gorthak sat on the stairs into Kargathia keep. On seeing the General they stood up, Cato’s usual grin seemed to have deepened slightly, he was clearly assumed at the whole situation. The party marched under the gates to the Keep and right up to the stairs. Cato grinned manically. :'' “ ’ello General, good to ‘ave ye back, mate. ” He said still grinning with a bow. Speatus grinded his teeth as he looked upon the state of his old Keep. “Where is he?” Speatus said simply. “Right this way.” Cato spread his arm into the Keep, pointing the way. '' :Speatus followed Cato under the great portcullis and into the keep, the huge court yard stretched out infront of him. The cold grey walls once hosted mighty black banners with the Warsong symbol proudly mounted in the middle of each. They were gone. Gone were the great shelves of axes and weaponry used for emergency siege use and gone were the grim displays of elf skulls placed on totems around the court yard. Instead there were fountains and elaborate blue banners, cushions and a lovely scarlet carpet with stretched from the entrance to the very depths of the Keep. '' : “Rip it down!” Speatus said pointing at the blue banner, anger beginning to take hold of his voice. Two of the Blademasters broke off and started to tear down the blue cloth from the wall, the grunts on watch quickly ran to help them. Cato made his way past the court yard, and followed the scarlet carpet right into the main hall of the keep, Speatus and the four remaining Bodyguards followed. Cato stopped at the entrance but Speatus continued on down toward where Maggoth sat. Maggoth sat on his make-shift throne within the hall, he was dressed in fine cloth and silk, his exquisite jewellery shone as he stood up. With a forced smile on his face, he opened his arms in welcome and walked down the Dias toward Speatus. “General, it is an honour havin…” '' :With a tightly clenched fist, Speatus knocked Maggoth in the teeth and backward off his feet. He collapsed into a pile. The Blademasters quickly surrounded the two, as Cato’s grin widened. '' : “Have you gone mad!” Maggoth shouted up at Speatus holding his bloody mouth. “Get up, you pathetic worm...” Speatus grabbed his robe and pulled him to his feet, “… so I can strike you again.” He pulled his fist back again but Maggoth wriggled free, dropped to his knees and cowered behind his own arms. The Blademasters smiled down at the pitiful display of an Orc. “Show some valour, Maggoth! You are a Warsong!” Speatus shouted down at him. “I.. I don’t..” Maggoth started. “Oh yes, please. Please explain to us how you have managed to destroy our entire clan within a few months.” Speatus squeezed his fist, cracking his knuckles after the blow. “What is that disgusting display you have out there?” Speatus pointed backward out of the Keep, “Because that is NOT the work force I left you with when leaving the camps.” Maggoth kneeled in silence, still in shock. “Not only is our Keep covered in Elven filth, I hear you also release all prisoners the outriders bring back from their patrols. More disturbing is the rumour that an ENTIRE patrol of raiders was slaughtered by Silverwing pixies due to you ignoring a report from the outriders.” '' :'' Speatus raised his hand again, but Maggoth flinched out of arms reach. Speatus took another step forward, his eyes burning red like fire. “And then I hear, from the very organisation that I was apart of that illegal weapon dealing is happening right from inside this Keep!” “General.. I knew nothing about that, I swear..” Maggoth managed to spit out. “I will hear no more from you. Get out of my Camps. You are exiled from the Clan.” Speatus said turning to leave. “Ex..Exlied?! Who do you think you are, Crimsonwolf? You are not a chieftain!” Speatus almost leapt at Maggoth, grabbing his robe he pulled his face close to his and said in a hushed calm voice. “In this very moment, you feeble wretch. I am a God.” Speatus let go and two Blademasters grabbed the Orc, pulling him up off his feet. “Throw him out.” Speatus said. They obeyed as they dragged the kicking and screaming Maggoth out of the Keep. “This is not the end of this Crimsonwolf! You have made a dangerous enemy!” '' : Speatus had the beginnings of his order, and the fierce reputation of his brother by his side. His enemies soon stopped their foolish attempts to pull him down from power. As a General of the Horde under the name of Garrosh, he had become untouchable. : : The Tragedy at Wrath Gate Speatus lost more than his wife and many of his men at the wrath gate incident. He was beginning to slide and was no longer considered one of Garrosh’s prime Generals. Speatus’s frustrations were taken out on more than one individual, the most notable was his attack on the leader of the House of Sylvanas, Dr Fathius Archnazg Magnark, during a blood pact meeting concerning the Wrath gate incident. His reputation was suffering and he knew he had to take action soon. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : “Speatus stood on the top of the Kor’korn watch tower.. his body guards stood slightly quivering behind him. He could not believe what he had seen. The blight, the death, his own clan... his people... fleeing. The pup Saurfang had been downed in a single blow and the sudden blast of blight seemed to be enough to rout even the Warsong. His eyes burned red, a deep fire that seemed to ignite his very soul. His shoulders were slowly rising and falling with his heavy breathing, the knuckles of his hands turning white, each hand gripped an axe tightly. He felt it working through him once again, it had not changed. Something coursed through him.. like it did at the battle of hammerfall and the battle of Cenarious. For years he had been free of the felblood.. but he had never lost the pure rage that it inflicted. Loritar, his wife was down there.. as was his brother, Blademaster Krusg. He could not see them, nor any of his soldiers. The mass of mindless cowards he once called the Horde ran from battle like whipped children. He could no longer control it... '' : :“Sir, It’s coming.. we should...” One of the Honour guards tried to mutter... “You. Will. Remain. Here.” Speatus almost hissed each word through clenched teeth. The guard hesitated slightly, before he dropped his axe and made a run for the stairs. The other guard tried to stop him but was too late as he slipped out the door and took five stairs at a time to try escape. His attempt was short lived though as the familiar sound of an axe against bone echoed up the stairwell. Footsteps followed. Speatus turned to see his brother burst through into the room, his massive bulk having to duck through the doorway to enter. Krusg dropped the head of the fleeing bodyguard onto the floor and coughed loudly. “He try to run.. Krusg stop coward.” “I am glad to see you have survived, brother. “It take more that green smoke to drop mighty Krusg.” “Agreed brother... Where is Loritar?” Krusg diverted his eyes to the floor, it was clear without him having to speak what had happened. “Sylvanas... Archnazg...” Speatus hissed. He walked to the edge of the tower and looked over to the forsaken camp. “Prepare the Worgs, we will have to explain this to Garrosh. Enjoy the ride to the Hold, pups...” Speatus said as he stormed toward the staircase out of the tower.“...we’ll be lucky if we aren’t executed by sundown."'' : : The Death of General Crimsonwolf In an attempt to regain his reputation and standing with the offensive, Speatus used the Warsong Blades to claim large areas of land from scourge control. One such operation would have seen his attempts successful and his name would have even been called out on the streets of Orgrimmar. But it was not to be. General Crimsonwolf fell before the battle by a volley of rogue arrows. : : ''The icy wind cut deep, even through the thick wolf skin cloak Speatus wore. In each hand he carried an axe decorated with bone and feathers. He shivered slightly but quickly stopped himself, he will not show any weakness in the presence of his soldiers. He glared off into the valley before them as he paced along the front rank of soldiers, his eyes burning red, his sharp fangs almost misty white in the cold. It had not even been ten minutes before a large undead force could be seen gathering and moving up towards them. Speatus reached the end of the line where his brother stood. “Ready for this brother?” “Krusg no need to be ready for little undead humans.” Blademaster Krusg replied, he had an axe the size of a polearm rested ontop of his shoulder. Speatus smiled at him through his thick wolf skin coif then turned to the large gathering of Warsong orcs. “Ner’zhul was once one of us... “ He began, his voice carried across the mass of orcish warriors. “...but look sons of the Horde, look at what has become of a once mighty orc! Many of you were there with me in the old days before the first war... many of you fought and bled with me in all three wars, together we drank and damned ourselves. Yes... it was wrong for us to be so weak, to fall to the corruption once again... but we know that it was not -what- we did, but -why- we did it! We are the Horde... the –Orcish- Horde and we are proud! One of us in the field of battle is worth seven of those!” The warrior’s roar filled the sky but quickly died down so that the General could speak again. The undead force drew closer with every word. “Garrosh Hellscream has ordered that this area be cleared of their presence, we as Warsong warriors will break down anything that stands against his wishes! Today is the day that we shall avenge young Saurfang, today is the day where undead bone will crack and where..." A large thud knocked Speatus forward slightly, unimaginable pain ripped up his spine. Krusg diverted his gaze to Speatus, but his expression changed to shock as he noticed the collection of arrows lodged into his back. Speatus coughed, blood starting to flow from his mouth as he dropped to his knees. “B...brother...?” Krusg moved forward. The silence in the ranks quickly turned to mumbles as they watched Krusg grab Speatus by the shoulders shaking him. “Brother wake up! It only flesh wound, time to attack! Shouts of rage erupted from the ranks... “They are using arrows! The cowards!” The world slowly grew dark for Speatus as he slipped out of his brother’s hands. Krusg stood up breathing heavily facing the quickly advancing undead. Without warning Krusg roared, the roar was enough to chill the bone of every opponent he had ever faced. It seemed the very mountains would crumble at the sound of his rage. He charged, his axe above his head he closed the ground quickly and rammed himself into the undead ranks breaking bone and cleaving rotten flesh. The Warriors did not wait for a command as they echoed Krusg’s roar for vengeance, the entire rank charge and collided with the Lich King’s forces. Speatus heard the battle rage on and smiled as he remembered his father’s words from so many years ago... “The greatest honour for an Orc is to die in battle, to die for the Horde and to die without fear.” Speatus had been a pup back then when his father had not come back from the push along the Loch and he prided himself that he died fighting for the Horde. Even if it was not the Horde that he remembered. He started to close his eyes when a familiar face crept into view. Cato knelt down beside him, mist in his eyes. “Orcs.. do not cry.. Cato..” Speatus said with a small grin. “Krusg has fallen...” He simply said. Speatus nodded slightly and closed his eyes. Never did he think he would see the day that his mighty brother would fall. Perhaps their brother spirits will meet again after this life. “You’re a bloody mess mate... I don’t know if...”But Cato gave up seeing that the General has already passed... '' Crimsonwolf's Legacy Speatus Crimsonwolf left this realm of existence with many friends and few enemies, he was a respected leader even though he was harsh at times. He led with his heart and the fire that burned within him over his head and the advice given to him. It was said that he was a passionate Orc that was denied an honourable death in battle. The Warsong Blades was taken over by a young officer called Katalmach Duskclaw. It was found out later that Speatus’s brother, Krusg, survived the battle and was nursed back to health by the Argent Dawn. General Crimsonwolf’s body was never recovered from the battlefield and it is feared that his corpse now roams through Icecrown as a mindless husk. One ageing shaman within the Blades has declared that he will spend the rest of his years searching the spirit world for Speatus’s spirit in an attempt to resurrect the former General. Although many know that this is not possible. Speatus Crimsonwolf had a daugther by the name of Karitar Crimsonwolf the younger, who still lives today. Category:People Category:Orcs